WE ARE PROUD TO BRING YOU THE CLEANEST & MOST ACCURATELY GRADED LPs ON eBAY!!! EACH SIDE IS GIVEN AT LEAST 3 PASSES ON OUR VPI WITH AUDIO INTELLIGENT FLUIDS & THOROUGHLY RINSED WITH THE PUREST H2O IN THE WORLD, RESULTING IN DEAD SILENT BACKGROUNDS AS WELL AS ULTIMATE PRESENCE, ARTICULATION AND TRANSPARENCY. YOU WILL NOT FIND A CLEANER LP ANYWHERE!!!

Original Bob Ludwig mastered first press, still in the shrink. Steely Dan rolled into 1979 on top of the world, having established themselves as consistent hitmakers while pulling in the critical kudos. After moving back to their beloved New York City and knocking out a killer soundtrack cut ("FM") just as their pinnacle album Aja started sliding down the charts, Becker and Fagen took much of 1978 off. They looked forward to creating the perfect followup, finally free from their record deal with ABC and onto a much more lucrative one with Warners. The first sign of trouble occurred in March 1979 when MCA gobbled up ABC and promptly shut down the label; they determined they were owed one more album, and had the 'resources' to win the battle with the band and Warner Bros. Becker was also going through a real rough patch; the narcotics habit he picked up on the west coast was affecting his work, and in January 1980 his girlfriend was found dead in their apartment from an overdose, prompting a lawsuit slapped on Becker by her family. Just a few months later he suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a cab as he was crossing the street, and took six months to recover - during the crucial mixing phase. Keith Jarrett (never one to shy away from confronting all slights real and perceived) sued Becker and Fagan for borrowing a little too much of his 1974 song “Long As You Know You’re Living Yours” for Gaucho‘s title track. (They reportedly paid him a cool million to keep his name out of the credits.) And of course their obsession over studio perfection reached its apex, spending countless hours of takes with full bands just to get the drum track nailed down. They brought in a half-dozen different rhythm sections to attempt a single song, disposing of endless hours of attempts by entire ensembles in pursuit of the sacred take. World-class guitarists like Mark Knopfler and Rick Derringer were barely noticed on the finished results, since it was extremely hard to meet their (often unarticulated) demands. One track that did, and which producer Gary Katz and engineer Roger Nichols were particularly excited about, was “The Second Arrangement,” which didn’t see release since in late December 1979 a junior engineer accidentally erased about 75% of the track. There were attempts to re-record it but none were deemed satisfactory, so they abandoned the song altogether. Ultimately, Gaucho overcame all of these challenges: it went platinum, reaching the top 10, as did lead-off single “Hey Nineteen” (with “Time Out Of Mind” not far behind). These achievements were capped by yet another Grammy for “Best Non-Classical Engineered Recording.” Not insignificant accomplishments in a time where punk, new wave and disco rose up as a backlash against rock of the artier kind. In the end, Steely Dan shook off all that bad mojo and life was good again apart from the 19+ year drought of no new studio releases that followed.



Artist: STEELY DAN

Title:

Year: 1980

Label: MCA

Catalog Number: MCA-6102

Mono/Stereo/Quadro: stereo

Country: USA

MCA-2469-MO-2 SF1 SM15 06 13  /    (hand-etched)  plus on both sides

Weight: 140 grams

Cover Format: standard rear slick

Cover Condition: EX (sharp, crisp, vivid & tight, still completely in the tight shrink, typical light aging otherwise top NM, really about as nice as it gets)

Vinyl Condition: perfect gloss, s1 has the normal sleeve marks from cardstock inner otherwise the entire LP is NM throughout)

Label Condition: a few tiny spindle marks

We clean every record on a VPI HW-17F using Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solutions multi-step process (every disc goes into a brand-new poly-lined inner sleeve).

Everything is strictly graded using the classic Goldmine Standards that we have been applying since 1983: 

/ NM / EX / VG+ / VG / VG- / G+ / G  (please see bottom of auction for specific grading information).

UNITED STATES MEDIA MAIL :  $4 for the first LP, 50 cents for each thereafter.  PRIORITY MAIL :  $8 for the first LP, $2 for each thereafter.

If you would like insurance (including Signature Confirmation) please add $1.65 for a package valued up to $50, $2.30 up to $100, $2.45 up to $200, $4.60 up to $300, and 90 cents for each $100 after that.

CANADA and MEXICO FIRST CLASS AIRMAIL :  $12 for the first LP, $5 for each after that.

THE REST OF THE WORLD - FIRST CLASS INTERNATIONAL AIRMAIL (2-4 weeks) :  $18 for the first LP, $7 for each after that.

International Registration is $12 and is required on all packages valued over $100.

 For all locations, double LPs count as 2 records, triple sets count as 3 and so on.  We are always happy to combine shipping, but regardless of how many LPs you hope to acquire, please complete your payment no later than 7 days after your last winning auction ends (of course exceptions can always be made, please contact us anytime).  If you are combining items please wait for us to send our personal invoice with the combined shipping amount.

Each (non-sealed) record is removed from its cover before shipping, and both are inserted into a new 3 mm sleeve before they are secured, with bubble wrap if necessary, in the highest-quality cruciform LP mailer.  No time or effort is spared to insure that your disc, cover and inner sleeve / inserts all arrive in exactly the same condition as they were listed.

We aim to ship every item within 24 hours of payment, but this is neither a physical store nor our only endeavor, so we kindly ask you to please understand if we take a couple days to ship your package every now and then.  We cannot be held accountable for lost or stolen items (please use Signature Confirmation if this is an issue), arrival times, or for anything shipped overseas without registration. We use eBay shipping so you will have records and tracking numbers for everything, but we have no control once the item is handed over to USPS unless you use registration, so if you forgo this extra service please do not file a claim if your package takes forever or fails to be delivered.  We highly recommend registration to all customers in Eastern Europe, Italy, and France.

We will always work with you no matter what the circumstance.  We make ourselves readily available to all of our customers, and look forward to any and all questions or concerns you may have.  We have satisfied many thousands of online customers alone over the years, we hope to add you to the list.

We visually grade all records using the classic Goldmine Standard, to which we have added EX (as have many others), but we do not use any other variant from the classic scale.  No NM- or EX+ (which are both EX), EX- VG+++ or Near Excellent (which are all VG+), or any such other nebulous grades here!  We feel that nearly every collector will be more than pleased with anything listed EX or above in our auctions; they will all be top-shelf, archive quality items which will play M- throughout.  A VG+ record will truly satisfy all but the most critical curator.  On the very rare occasion we actually grade an opened LP as straight MINT, we can guarantee you’ll never find a nicer copy anywhere!

We will play-grade any LP if there is any reason to do so; any questionable mark, scuff or noteworthy artifact of any kind will be sampled to determine its true significance (which may obviously impact the grade ).  We will also gladly play-grade anything upon request; if you are curious about the actual pressing characteristics or any have other questions about its actual performance please feel free to ask.

MINT :  Absolutely perfect.

This record looks like it has just left the plant, with no flaws whatsoever.  It appears unhandled and unplayed, with no marks of any sort.  Usually only sealed or (sometimes) unplayed LPs will warrant this grade.

The cover does not appear to have had a record inside it; there is no wear or distraction of any kind.

 NM : Virtually flawless, top copy.

The record is virtually identical to the moment it was opened, but may have a few faint paper, packaging or pressing scuffs which will produce no sound whatsoever and are very hard to see without critical inspection.  It was very carefully handled and played, likely only once or twice.

The cover is as close to perfect as can be expected given its age.  There may be minor impressions due to the outer edge of the vinyl (no ring wear), the lightest possible corner bumps, or a few tiny laminate creases (mainly on imports), but no wear or whitening of any kind whatsoever.

EX : A beautiful specimen, which will please most critical collectors and not need to be upgraded.

The record has no scratches or significant blemishes, and will play NM throughout.  It retains 100% of the gloss, sheen and luster, but may have a handful of faint superficial scuffs, hairlines or light spindle marks which will not produce any sound whatsoever.

The cover is nearly perfect.  There may be the absolute faintest suggestion of ring wear or possibly a light touch of dulling on the corners (nothing wrinkled or obtrusive in any way), but no notable seam or spine wear, writing or sign of tape anywhere.

 VG+ : Plays perfectly nearly all of the time, with only a few minor distractions.

The record still retains nearly all of the gloss, sheen and luster, but there may be a handful of inaudible superficial marks or scuffs, a mild scattering of light hairlines (which would only be faintly audible between tracks or in some very quiet passages), or a few stray marks which may mildly sound for a few revolutions. Each flaw is very minor, barely noticeable to the naked eye, and will not detract from the enjoyment in any way.

The cover is still very clean and crisp, but may look slightly more aged and have a few minor flaws such as small unobtrusive writing, minor wear to the seams and spine (no splits), slightly worn corners, very light ring wear or minor creasing.  No flaw is at all distracting in and of itself.

 VG : A nice play copy, which will perform without much significant distraction.

The record appears well played, but still has the majority of the luster.  It will not have been abused, though there will be some audible sound defects which will not overpower the dynamics of the music, such as mild surface noise in the quietest sections, a handful of stray isolated pops and clicks (which are brief and occasional), or possibly some very mild groove wear; still no skips, repeats, or anything deep or seriously pronounced.  It will play through quite nicely most of the time, with very minimal distraction.

The cover looks somewhat used and shows some mild wear.  There may be some minor seam splitting, ring wear (which still doesn’t overwhelm the cover), discreet writing (not large magic marker), or mild yellowing due to air contaminants. It is still nice, just a few notable flaws away from VG+.

We will never sell anything less than VG, so the rest of the scale is unnecessary.  We absolutely detest groove wear, so we will almost never list anything lacking the overwhelming majority of the luster, sheen and gloss.  Anything of significance will always be noted. 

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